Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Media Gate: Lawyers, & Jang Group/Geo TV.

LAHORE: Following the Supreme Court ruling to investigate the alleged payments made by property tycoon Malik Riaz to the chief justice of Pakistan’s son, Dr Arsalan Iftikhar, the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP)’s office has constituted a three-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) which will probe the entire saga, sources privy to the development told The Express Tribune. According to sources, the JIT consists of the Inspector General of Islamabad Police, as well as directors from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). The members and mandate of the JIT has been suggested and finalised by the PPP-led coalition government – and the details were sent to the AGP’s office on Monday night for a notification to be issued. Sources told The Express Tribune that AGP Irfan Qadir would, in coming days, issue the notification – which could come as early as Tuesday (today). The AGP will monitor the JIT and later submit the findings to the court. Former chairman Bahria Town Malik Riaz had accused Dr Arsalan of financial impropriety, claiming that he had taken bribes from him and promised to have his cases pending in court settled amicably. The Supreme Court on June 14 had directed the AGP to proceed according to the law and take required action against business tycoon Malik Riaz, his son-in-law Salman and the chief justice’s son Dr Arsalan Iftikhar. JIT’s mandate According to sources, the JIT has been mandated to investigate the following: the wife of the chief justice, his son Dr Arsalan Iftikhar, his “pir” (mentor) Hakeem Abdul Wahab, Malik Riaz and his son-in-law Salman Ali Khan. Besides these two families, JIT would investigate businessman Ahmad Khalil, alleged to be the go-between, and renowned lawyer Hamid Khan. According to sources, Hakim Wahab is suspected to be a partner of Dr Arsalan. According to sources, Riaz had claimed that the bribes were given primarily for two cases – both of which would be investigated in close detail. The JIT, said sources, would investigate Riaz’s allegation that he was asked to hire Hamid Khan for these two cases. One case pertained to the car race accident, which took place in December 2010, as a result of which five persons were killed. Riaz’s son, Ali Riaz, faced murder charges. The second case is said to be the one pertaining to the murder of a Bahria Town guard Fayyaz Ahmad. AGP Irfan Qadir, while talking with The Express Tribune, confirmed the formation of the JIT. He promised that everything in this matter would be unveiled. REFERENCE: FIA, NAB and police to probe Malik Riaz saga By Abdul Manan Published: June 19, 2012 Published in The Express Tribune, June 19th, 2012. http://tribune.com.pk/story/395830/fia-nab-and-police-to-probe-malik-riaz-saga/

Hamid Khan Central Election Commissioner PTI Elections 2012

13-06-2012: After Mansoor Ijaz, the central man of Memo gate scandal, Malik Riaz has comeup as the most controversial personality in the politics of Pakistan. Malik Riaz is the personality who has links with every politicians and political parties of Pakistan. According to the Former Minister, Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, PTI’s chairman stands at the top rank in the list who took benefits from Malik Riaz. When asked from PTI’s VC, Shah Mehmood Qureshi that did ever Imran Khan took money from Malik Riaz? First Qureshi declined this after that he ignored this question and it made doubt on Imran Khan. In a talk-show program an anchor of private news channel said, "Malik Riaz gave money for PTI’s Rawalpindi gathering". Now, it has been cleared that Malik Riaz gave money for other public gatherings of PTI. No one denied the anchor person’s statement about Imran Khan, PTI & Malik Riaz. Even PTI’s VC, Qureshi didn’t give proper answer about relation of Imran Khan (PTI) & Malik Riaz, instead of giving answer, he ignored the question. Its mysterious question that from where Imran Khan is getting revenue for PTI’s gatherings and how is he spending so much money. Imran Khan and Malik Riaz have links with each other through Hamid Khan. Hamid Khan is the senior Vice President of PTI and he is the legal advisor of Malik Riaz since long time. http://ummat.com.pk/story/2012/06/12/8391/

ROLE OF MEDIA: 14. The series of events which comprise the run-up to this suo moto case also raise concerns about issues of media law and ethics. It is indeed sad that the people of Pakistan were, for a number of days, held hostage to a fear about the independence and integrity of their country’s superior judiciary, on the basis of what has turned out be an utterly baseless allegation, withdrawn now by the same person who is alleged to have started it. The ethic and legal framework of the media requires fairness and objectivity; it requires that journalists conduct due diligence before reporting any news so that rumours and insinuations are filtered out, particularly in matters of grave significance such as ones arising in this case. Even when they have come across a particular information, fair conduct requires it is checked and rechecked. From the statements filed by certain media persons in court the requisite due diligence prima facie, appears not to have been undertaken. Had this been done, the concerned media persons would have found out what has been ascertained by us with very little effort. Moreover, Dr. Arsalan and his conduct should have, from the very beginning, been kept separate and distinct from the integrity and independence of the judiciary. It should not have taken an incourt statement from Malik Riaz to settle the matter. Without proper care and professional excellence, even sincere and honest journalists risk being used as tools in the hands of those who may not be obedient to the laws and the constitution of Pakistan. REFERENCE: Suo Motu Case No.5 of 2012 (Suo Motu Action regarding allegation of business deal between Malik Riaz Hussain and Dr. Arsalan Iftikhar attempting to influence the judicial process) http://www.supremecourt.gov.pk/web/user_files/File/S.M.C.5of2012dt14-6-2012.pdf For Urdu Translation http://www.supremecourt.gov.pk/web/user_files/File/SMC5of2012[UrduVersion]dt16-6-2012.pdf

15. Among the documents filed in Court is a statement of Mir Ibrahim Rehman, Chief Executive, Geo Network. He has placed stress on the “good intention” of Geo anchor persons and has expressed his view that they had acted in a “responsible manner” to protect the respect of the Judiciary. Stress has also been placed on media ethics of the group. Mr. Shaheen Sehbai has also submitted an affidavit acknowledging that there was “a plan which was aimed at maligning the top Judge of Pakistan and son of the Chief Justice of Pakistan”. Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry according to him, had been named under a plan as the beneficiary of business deals involving crores of rupees. It is quite clear from the affidavit of Mr. Sehbai that he was neither in possession of the evidence nor had he seen it. Likewise none of the persons mentioned in his affidavit was in possession of the evidence. This omission was not considered important enough. Mr. Sehbai goes on to state that his “prime goal was to warn the Judges of a conspiracy”. We are left wondering if giving an Internet-based interview without seeing any of the documents and then uploading such interview on YouTube was indeed the best way to warn the Judges of a conspiracy. REFERENCE: Suo Motu Case No.5 of 2012 (Suo Motu Action regarding allegation of business deal between Malik Riaz Hussain and Dr. Arsalan Iftikhar attempting to influence the judicial process) http://www.supremecourt.gov.pk/web/user_files/File/S.M.C.5of2012dt14-6-2012.pdf For Urdu Translation http://www.supremecourt.gov.pk/web/user_files/File/SMC5of2012[UrduVersion]dt16-6-2012.pdf

16. The statement submitted b by Mr. Kamran Khan also shows that even rudimentary checks would have made it clear that Malik Riaz had indeed had no direct contact or transaction or other dealing whatsoever with Dr. Arsalan. Furthermore, we have not found that any due diligence was undertaken to ascertain or verify the true facts of cases SMC 5 of 2012 10 pending in the Supreme Court for which Malik Riaz has stated he paid large sums of money for relief and favourable decisions. With the object of illustrating our comment through the documents filed by Malik Riaz with his Concise Statement, we can refer to the very first case i.e. HRC No. 10322-P/2009, mentioned at page 69 of the Concise Statement of Malik Riaz. In his own words action in the case was “taken on press clipping in Daily Jang dated 12.10.2009 on appeal of Raja Riasat”. The subject of the case according to Malik Riaz, is the murder of Raja Fiaz son of Raja Riasat over a land dispute in Mauza Sihala. The simplest inquiry into HRC No. 10322-P/2009 would have revealed that 9 Investigating Officers and 6 DSPs are facing criminal charges because they have committed the most serious illegalities in the conduct of the investigation and have thereby subverted the course of justice in a murder case. This is the situation even according to FIA. It is a matter of concern to the people of Pakistan that such inquiry was not undertaken before the airing of, perhaps the most damaging and tendentious media onslaught on the Judiciary in the recent past. REFERENCE: Suo Motu Case No.5 of 2012 (Suo Motu Action regarding allegation of business deal between Malik Riaz Hussain and Dr. Arsalan Iftikhar attempting to influence the judicial process) http://www.supremecourt.gov.pk/web/user_files/File/S.M.C.5of2012dt14-6-2012.pdf For Urdu Translation http://www.supremecourt.gov.pk/web/user_files/File/SMC5of2012[UrduVersion]dt16-6-2012.pdf

PEMRA chairman suffers heart attack: ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Acting Chairman Dr Abdul Jabbar was shifted to al Shifa Hospital after he suffered a severe heart attack. Family sources said that he was summoned by the chief justice of Pakistan regarding a controversial interview of property tycoon Malik Riaz. When Jabbar appeared before the court he was not offered a chair and recoded his statement while standing. After the proceedings, he was under too much stress because he was not called in the courtroom, but was ordered to be present in the meetings of 17 judges where they were shown off-record portion of the interview. The chief justice asked the PEMRA chairman that what steps he had taken in this regard. Sources said the full-court reference was telecasted live on TV channels after which Dr Jabbar felt humiliated and had a heart attack and was admitted to the hospital in critical condition. However, doctors did not issue any details regarding his health. online REFERENCE: PEMRA chairman suffers heart attack Wednesday, June 20, 2012 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\06\20\story_20-6-2012_pg7_21

Above the Law - Pakistan's activist lawyers and judges may have thrown out Pervez Musharraf, but they're no democrats. In fact, they're a grave and growing threat to Pakistan's future. --- Yet the chief justice's actions -- both in trying to prosecute the president and in charging the prime minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani, with contempt of court for failing to cooperate with the prosecution -- also smack of an attempt to preempt democratic elections in Pakistan that are due within the next year. If these elections take place as scheduled, they will mark a significant milestone: the first time in Pakistan's history that an elected government has made it through to the end of its constitutional term without being overthrown. Although Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) will almost certainly suffer heavy losses in the parliamentary elections, it may do much better beforehand in indirect Senate elections, allowing the PPP -- and conceivably even the president -- to retain a large share of power. Many therefore suspect that Chaudhry's real motive is a political one: to force the government out before these elections. While the chief justice is doubtless sincere in his passionate commitment to the independence and power of the judiciary, he is also conservative in background and believed to be extremely hostile to cooperation between Pakistan and the United States, as well as the role of the Zardari administration in maintaining this cooperation. It is unclear whether Chaudhry is close to the main opposition party led by Nawaz Sharif, but some of his subordinate judges certainly are. A senior Pakistani official told me this week that the standoff between the executive and judicial branches was just a process of jockeying for position as these institutions gradually work out their respective places in the new democratic order. But others see it as a continuation of the institutional and political instability that has racked Pakistan since independence in 1947 and that could sometime in the future contribute to another collapse of democracy and return of military rule. In recent years, other developments have led liberals to question their previous support for the chief justice and the Lawyers' Movement. Most shocking was the public support of many lawyers for the assassination of Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab, who in January 2011 was murdered by one of his own bodyguards for criticizing Pakistan's blasphemy law, which has been repeatedly misused in private feuds and the persecution of religious minorities. A previous chief justice of the Lahore High Court himself justified this murder to me in an interview last year on the grounds that "the laws of God take precedence over the laws of man." Pakistani courts have also repeatedly failed to convict terrorism suspects, even when the cases against them seemed clear-cut. They overturned both a ban on Jamaat-ud-Dawa -- the public face of the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was responsible for the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks -- and a detention order against its leader, Hafiz Saeed. In a recent case, they acquitted four Pakistani Taliban activists accused of an attack on the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) headquarters in Lahore. As many Pakistanis have told them, this kind of verdict not only undermines the entire struggle against terrorism in Pakistan, but also encourages extrajudicial executions by the police and Army. In this case, all four men were promptly detained by the ISI under special anti-terrorism laws. And within a few weeks, all were dead under very suspicious circumstances. REFERENCE: Above the Law Pakistan's activist lawyers and judges may have thrown out Pervez Musharraf, but they're no democrats. In fact, they're a grave and growing threat to Pakistan's future. BY ANATOL LIEVEN | FEBRUARY 29, 2012 http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/02/29/above_the_law

These verdicts reflect in part both fear of the terrorists and the extreme incompetence of Pakistani prosecutors and police to draw up charges that will stick in court. Based on my meetings with some lawyers and judges, however, these judicial decisions often reflect deep hostility to the United States and the "war on terror" as well -- even when those being prosecuted have killed not Americans or Indians but fellow Pakistanis. In this, the judges and lawyers concerned are simply reflecting widespread feelings in the conservative middle class from which they are drawn. The clash between Chaudhry and Musharraf in 2007 originated in part with the chief justice's (legally justified) attempts to investigate Pakistani actions in handing over detained terrorism suspects to the United States. Several local leaders and supporters of the Lawyers' Movement whom I interviewed between 2007 and 2009 were extremely anti-American even by Pakistani standards, and they admitted that they were motivated to join the movement by outrage not just at the dismissal of the chief justice but also at Musharraf's action in storming the Red Mosque, an Islamist militant headquarters in Islamabad. The chief justice and many of the lawyers have become extraordinarily autocratic and extremely bad at cleaning up their own house. Chaudhry has issued suo moto (of his own volition) verdicts dismissing state officials, overturning government economic policies, and intervening in executive decisions against which nobody else has brought legal charges. Lower levels of the judicial system are even worse. During two out of my three recent visits to Lahore, lawyers in that city have been filmed beating up policemen who have testified against their clients in court -- and have then beaten up the television crews who dared to film them! Rarely are lawyers who break the law or openly forge their own certificates disbarred or even disciplined by their bar associations. The lower courts are notorious for their corruption, incompetence, and endless delays, and most Pakistanis loathe and fear them, preferring when possible either sharia law or the often brutal but quick, cheap, and accessible workings of local community justice. REFERENCE: Above the Law Pakistan's activist lawyers and judges may have thrown out Pervez Musharraf, but they're no democrats. In fact, they're a grave and growing threat to Pakistan's future. BY ANATOL LIEVEN | FEBRUARY 29, 2012 http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/02/29/above_the_law

The Pakistani Supreme Court's decision Tuesday to dismiss Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani signals the unnatural death of another civilian government. While less dramatic than the military variety, this judicial coup—carried out on the pretext that Mr. Gilani refused to pursue corruption charges against President Asif Ali Zardari—perpetuates the cycle of unelected institutions "rescuing" Pakistanis from their own chosen leaders. The man responsible for this constitutional crisis is Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who was once hailed as a democratic hero for standing up to the last military strongman, General Pervez Musharraf, in 2007. It's not the first time the court has come close to disqualifying Mr. Gilani from office. Last December, he accused the military of being behind the effort. "I want to make it clear that there are conspiracies going on to pack up the elected government," Mr. Gilani said at the time. Whether or not it should be called a conspiracy, there certainly is a confluence of forces gunning for the Prime Minister and Mr. Zardari. This makes it impossible for the government to function normally, with no end in sight. Presumably the Supreme Court would order any new Prime Minister to pursue the same corruption case against the President, and hold him in contempt as well should he refuse. New elections may be the only way to break the deadlock. Pakistan can ill afford this political wrangling as the economy falters and terrorist groups gain strength. Public confidence in democratic institutions, shaky to begin with, is in free fall, and the middle class continues to emigrate. Pakistan has defied predictions of failed statehood before, but testing its luck again with another undemocratic transition is foolhardy. Having stepped in to overthrow so many civilian Presidents, the judiciary and military view coups as their prerogative and even duty. If there's a silver lining, it's that this time democratically elected leaders managed to stay in power for an impressive four years—Mr. Gilani is already the longest-serving civilian Prime Minister in Pakistan's history—and the coup-makers felt constrained by public revulsion at a return to military rule. Nevertheless, the self-anointed defenders of Pakistan's interests have again succeeded in crippling Pakistan's democracy. Mr. Zardari and Mr. Gilani may fairly be accused of bungled leadership and inept policy making. But Pakistan will never reach political maturity until democratic governments are allowed to serve out their terms at the pleasure of the people, not unelected elites. REFERENCE: Islamabad's Judicial Coup Pakistan's elites deliver another blow to their democracy. Updated June 19, 2012, 7:31 p.m. ET A version of this article appeared June 20, 2012, on page A14 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Islamabad's Judicial Coup. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303836404577476231968099476.html

It was a coup by other means. In the past, Pakistan’s democratic hopes were often thwarted by generals taking power for themselves, or shunting governments aside by subtler means. Now it is the turn of another unelected and unaccountable institution to try the same. The government will not fall. There is an opportunity now for President Asif Ali Zardari to try and anoint a successor as he struggles to hold on to his already shaky ruling coalition. The verdict merely destabilises the government for now. But more importantly, the court was sending a message. The decision had little to do with the niceties of the law, and whether Yousaf Raza Gilani was following the court’s orders to write a letter to Swiss authorities, urging them to reopen corruption cases against his boss. It was principally about politics. In particular, it was a power play that reflected the Supreme Court’s view that it is better suited to represent the people of Pakistan than those they have chosen to elect themselves. The Supreme Court has rightfully earned much popularity for its defiance of former dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf, grilling intelligence agencies, and confronting corruption. But with the accumulation of greater clout, it has grown increasingly political, at times positioning itself as an alternative government. The court’s verdict is also being criticised in light of a recent controversy. Over recent days, a powerful property billionaire has alleged that he paid Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s son some £2m in the form of cash and pricey holidays. It is unclear whether the chief justice’s son was being suborned by the government-connected billionaire, or was extorting him. Either way, the scandal has tainted the judiciary. Questions abound about how much the chief justice knew, and for how long. The move also has political implications. The decision was taken on the petition of two opposition parties, and seems to tilt the political field against the government’s favour mere months before the next election. Political wrangling over the next few weeks could paralyse the country, to the neglect of pressing issues. Over recent weeks, simmering anger at constant power outages have boiled over into violent riots in the majority province of Punjab. The economy may require a second IMF bailout. And relations with the US linger at an all time low, with Nato supplies to Afghanistan still suspended. Whoever becomes Pakistan’s next prime minister may well wish they needn’t have assumed the burden. REFERENCE: Omar Waraich: Pakistan suffers a coup by other means OMAR WARAICH TUESDAY 19 JUNE 2012 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/omar-waraich-pakistan-suffers-a-coup-by-other-means-7866514.html